This invention relates to a fluid pump with rotary impeller, and more particularly, to a fluid pump including an electromagnetically driven rotary impeller levitated by localized opposed fluid forces. Levitation of the impeller by fluid forces allows for high efficiency in converting power into useful work. Thus, a relatively small energy source can be used and the life of the energy source is correspondingly extended. Moreover, use of a levitated impeller driven by electromagnetic forces eliminates the need for bearings and seals in the driving mechanism, thereby avoiding the heat build-up and leakage attendant with other rotary pump inventions. Such considerations can be of critical importance for pumping of physiological fluids such as blood.
A large number of mechanisms for pumping fluids have been described in the art, including, for example, peristaltic pumps, moving diaphragm pumps, piston-type pumps, and centrifugal or rotary pumps. Generally, a rotary pump includes a pumping chamber with inlet and outlet ports and an impeller mounted within the pumping chamber for rotation about an axis. Frequently the impeller is mounted on a shaft that extends through one or more seals and a bearing apparatus to a rotational driving mechanism outside the pumping chamber. Rotary pumps employing shaft-mounted impellers with shaft seals are exemplified in the following U.S. patents: Dorman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,088; Rafferty et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,647,324; Reich et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,253; Clausen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,822; Moise U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,121; Kletschka U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,707. Shaft seals are susceptible to wear and heat build-up, which can lead to leakage and, in the case of blood pumps, to thrombogenic (clot-forming) problems, denaturation of proteins, and embolic phenomena and the like.
Other pump inventions employ liquid or hydrostatic bearings to reduce heat build-up and/or to dissipate heat and to reduce frictional forces in rotation of the shaft and/or impeller. In these inventions liquid or gas is forced into narrow clearances between the shaft and various bearing assemblies or between the impeller and the impeller housing. The relatively thin fluid or gas films generated in these inventions are nevertheless subject to high shear forces and some incremental heat build-up. The following U.S. patents exemplify the use of such liquid or hydrostatic bearings: Prindle U.S. Pat. Nos. 845,816 and 888,654; Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 2,864,552; Baker et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,122,101; Kambe et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,866.
It would, therefor, be a significant advance in the art to provide a rotary fluid pump including a freely rotatable impeller immersed in the pumping fluid and suspended or levitated by localized fluid forces. This would eliminate the need for an impeller drive shaft with its attendant seals and bearings. A blood pump with magnetically suspended and rotated impeller is disclosed in Olsen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,998. While this invention eliminates the impeller drive shaft, bearings and seals, electrical power is required not only to drive the impeller but also to maintain the impeller in a suspended state. Moreover, the invention requires cooperating electromagnetic sets, sensors, suspension circuits, and sensing circuits for continuously adjusting the position of the impeller in the pump housing. It would therefore be a significant advancement in the art to provide a novel pump apparatus whereby the impeller is levitated and positioned in the pump fluid by an auto-adjusting mechanism and whereby it is possible for all input energy to be directed to rotation of the impeller. Such a novel pump apparatus is disclosed and claimed herein.